Methods, systems, and computer program products for displaying tag words for selection by users engaged in social tagging of content

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and computer program products for displaying tag words for selection by users engaged in social tagging of content accessible via a communications network, are provided. A tag cloud, tag word inventory curve and slider control are displayed within a graphical user interface. The tag cloud is a visual representation of an inventory of tag words. The tag word inventory curve is a graphical representation of the words in the inventory by frequency of usage by others. The slider control is responsive to user movement, and is movable within a range that spans the length of the tag word inventory curve. Movement of the slider control changes the number of tag words from the inventory displayed in the tag cloud according to frequency of usage by others.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/868,688, filed Oct. 8, 2007, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated herein by reference as if set forth in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present application relates generally to communications networks,and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and computer programproducts for obtaining content via communications networks.

BACKGROUND

Communications networks are widely used for nationwide and worldwidecommunication of voice, multimedia and/or data. As used herein, the term“communications networks” includes public communications networks, suchas the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), terrestrial and/orsatellite cellular networks, private networks and/or the Internet.

The Internet is a decentralized network of computers that cancommunicate with one another via Internet Protocol (IP). The Internetincludes the World Wide Web (web) service facility, which is aclient/server-based facility that includes a large number of servers(computers connected to the Internet) on which web pages or filesreside, as well as clients (web browsers), which interface users withthe web pages. The topology of the web can be described as a network ofnetworks, with providers of network services called Network ServiceProviders, or NSPs. Servers that provide application-layer services maybe referred to as Application Service Providers (ASPs). Sometimes asingle service provider provides both functions.

Vast amounts of information or “content” are available on the webincluding, but not limited to text, images, applications, video, andaudio content. Web users are also increasingly making their own personalcontent (e.g., home movies, photograph albums, audio recordings, etc.)available via the web through web sites, web logs (blogs), and the like.In addition, television networks, including traditional broadcastnetworks as well as cable and satellite television networks, are makingcontent available via the web. Unfortunately, the sheer amount ofavailable content and the increasing numbers of content providers areposing increasingly more difficult challenges to users with respect tofinding content of interest.

Recent studies have uncovered some alarming facts with regard to howmuch time and money are spent by enterprise employees engaged in findinginformation. For example, the average knowledge worker spends 50 percentof his/her time looking for information. The number of copies anorganization makes of each document averages 19. In an IDC (www.idc.com)report, entitled “The High Cost of Not Finding Information,” it isdemonstrated that an enterprise with 1,000 knowledge workers can loseanywhere from $2.5 million $3.5 million annually in intellectual rework,time spent searching for non-existent data, and failing to find existinginformation. The lost opportunity costs, however, are even greater—anadditional $15 million in lost revenues. In another IDC report, entitled“Quantifying Enterprise Search”, it was found that only 21% ofrespondents said they found the information they needed 85% to 100% ofthe time. 40% of corporate users reported that they can not find theinformation they need to do their jobs on their enterprise intranets.

The concept of “social tagging” has emerged recently and describes thecollaborative activity of marking shared online content with keywords ortags as a way to organize content for future navigation, filtering, orsearch. Traditional information architecture utilized a central taxonomyor classification scheme in order to place information into specificpre-defined buckets or categories. The assumption was that trainedlibrarians understood more about information content and context thanthe average user. While this might have been true for the local librarywith the utilization of the Dewey Decimal system, the enormous amount ofcontent on the Internet makes this type of system un-manageable.

Social tagging offers a number of benefits to the end user community.Perhaps the most important feature to the individual is the ability tobookmark information in a way that is easy to recall at a later date. Inaddition, by combining social tags, users can create an environmentwhere the opinions of the majority define the appropriateness of thetags themselves. The act of creating a collection of popular tags isreferred to as a folksonomy which is defined as a folk taxonomy ofimportant and emerging content within a user community. Unfortunately, avocabulary problem exists because different users may define content indifferent ways which may lead to missed information or inefficient userinteractions.

An example of social tagging is the Web site “Flickr” (www.flickr.com),which allows users to upload images and “tag” them with appropriatemetadata keywords. Other users, who view the images, can also tag themwith their concept of appropriate keywords. After a critical mass hasbeen reached, the resulting tag collection will identify imagescorrectly and without bias. Another Web site dedicated to socialbookmarking is del.icio.us, which provides users with a place to store,categorize, annotate and share favorite Web pages and files.

Social tagging can be a beneficial way to locate content if usersunderstand the context and tagging of information. On the Internet,where social tagging emerged, there may be a pool of several thousandpeople engaged in the social tagging of content. Because of the largenumber of participants, the vocabulary and context of tags utilized willgenerally be understood by most users. However, in the corporateenvironment, there may be a much smaller number of users who engage insocial tagging of internal content (i.e., content on the corporateintranet) and external content (i.e., content on the Internet). Forexample, in a large corporation of several thousand people, there may befewer than one hundred users engaged in social tagging. The vocabularyand context of tags created by the few engaged in social tagging may notbe understood by others in the corporation seeking content.

SUMMARY

According to embodiments of the present invention, systems, methods, andcomputer program products are provided that facilitate the selection oftag words by users engaged in social tagging of content (e.g., textcontent, audio content, video content, etc.) that is accessible via acommunications network. By allowing users to select from a common tagword inventory and then adjust displayed tag words by frequency of use,embodiments of the present invention facilitate more standardized tagsthat can enable users to better locate content than before, which maylower the cost of doing business and finding information. Embodiments ofthe present invention allow users to understand how increasing orreducing the domain of tag words relative to a tag word inventory curvewill impact tag words displayed within the tag cloud

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a method ofdisplaying tag words for selection by users engaged in social tagging ofcontent accessible via a communications network, includes displaying atag cloud, wherein the tag cloud is a visual representation of aninventory of tag words, displaying a slider control adjacent to the tagcloud, and displaying a tag word inventory curve adjacent to the slidercontrol. The tag word inventory curve is a graphical representation ofthe words in the inventory by popularity (i.e., frequency of usage byothers). The slider control is responsive to user movement, and ismovable within a range that spans the length of the tag word inventorycurve. Movement of the slider control changes the number of tag wordsfrom the inventory displayed in the tag cloud according to frequency ofusage by others. For example, movement of the slider control to one endof the tag word inventory curve causes all tag words in the tag wordinventory to be displayed. Movement of the slider control to theopposite end of the tag word inventory curve causes only the mostpopular (i.e., most frequently used) tag words in the tag word inventoryto be displayed.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, two slidercontrols may be displayed adjacent to a displayed tag word inventorycurve and tag cloud. The two slider controls define a range ofpopularity on the tag word inventory curve, and only tag words in thedefined range of popularity (i.e. , between the two slider controls) aredisplayed within the tag cloud.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, a dataprocessing system that displays tag words for selection by users engagedin social tagging of content accessible via a communications networkincludes a display and a graphical user interface (GUI) displayed withinthe display that allows users to view and select tag words. The GUIincludes a tag cloud, a tag word inventory curve displayed adjacent tothe tag cloud, a slider control positioned adjacent to the tag wordinventory curve and tag cloud, and a tag word selection field displayedadjacent to the tag cloud. The tag cloud is a visual representation ofan inventory of tag words. The tag word inventory curve is a graphicalrepresentation of the words in the inventory by popularity (i.e., byfrequency of usage by others engaged in social tagging). The tag wordselection field displays one or more tag words selected by a user fromthe displayed tag cloud.

In some embodiments, tag words are displayed alphabetically in the tagcloud. In addition, tag words with higher popularity (i.e., tag wordswith greater frequency of use) are displayed differently from tag wordswith lesser popularity (i.e., tag words with lower frequency of use).For example, tag words with higher popularity may be displayed in alarger and/or different font than tag words with lesser popularity.

The slider control is responsive to user movement, and is movable withina range that spans the length of the tag word inventory curve. Movementof the slider control changes the number of tag words from the inventorydisplayed in the tag cloud.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, the GUI mayinclude two slider controls displayed adjacent to the displayed tag wordinventory curve and tag cloud. The two slider controls define a range ofpopularity on the tag word inventory curve, and only tag words in thedefined range of popularity (i.e., between the two slider controls) aredisplayed within the tag cloud.

Other systems, methods, and/or computer program products according toembodiments of the invention will be or become apparent to one withskill in the art upon review of the following drawings and detaileddescription. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods,and/or computer program products be included within this description, bewithin the scope of the present invention, and be protected by theaccompanying claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which form a part of the specification,illustrate key embodiments of the present invention. The drawings anddescription together serve to fully explain the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a tag cloud that may be utilized in accordance withembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a content word inventory curve, referred to as a“long tail” curve.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a software/hardwarearchitecture for displaying tag words for selection by users engaged insocial tagging of content accessible via a communications network,according to some embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 4-7 illustrate a user interface for selecting tag words, accordingto some embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a user interface for selecting tag words, accordingto other embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface for selecting tag words, accordingto other embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way ofexample in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit theinvention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, theinvention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by theclaims. Like reference numbers signify like elements throughout thedescription of the figures.

As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless expressly stated otherwise. Itshould be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or“comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify thepresence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one ormore other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/orgroups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referredto as being “connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can bedirectly connected or coupled to the other element or interveningelements may be present. Furthermore, “connected” or “coupled” as usedherein may include wirelessly connected or coupled. As used herein, theterm “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. As used herein, the terms “tag words” and “tagkeywords” are interchangeable.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

The present invention may be embodied as systems, methods, and/orcomputer program products. Accordingly, the present invention may beembodied in hardware and/or in software, including firmware, residentsoftware, micro-code, etc. Furthermore, the present invention may takethe form of a computer program product on a computer-usable orcomputer-readable storage medium having computer-usable orcomputer-readable program code embodied in the medium for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system. In the context of thisdocument, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, for example butnot limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagationmedium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM).

As used herein, the term “content” means any type of audio content,video content, audio/video content, text, gaming content, interactivecontent, application content, etc., that can be delivered and/orperformed/displayed via a communications network. For example, contentmay include television programs, movies, voice messages, music and otheraudio files, electronic mail/messages, web pages, interactive games,educational materials, software applications, etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of data processingsystems discussed herein may be written in a high-level programminglanguage, such as Java, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript), C, and/or C++,for development convenience. In addition, computer program code forcarrying out operations of embodiments of the present invention may alsobe written in other programming languages, such as, but not limited to,interpreted languages. Some modules or routines may be written inassembly language or even micro-code to enhance performance and/ormemory usage. Embodiments of the present invention are not limited to aparticular programming language. It will be further appreciated that thefunctionality of any or all of the program modules may also beimplemented using discrete hardware components, one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs), or a programmed digital signalprocessor or microcontroller.

The present invention is described herein with reference to flowchartand/or block diagram illustrations of methods, systems, and computerprogram products in accordance with exemplary embodiments of theinvention. These flowchart and/or block diagrams further illustrateexemplary operations for displaying tag words for selection by usersengaged in social tagging of content via a communications network, inaccordance with some embodiments of the present invention. It will beunderstood that each block of the flowchart and/or block diagramillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram illustrations, may be implemented by computer programinstructions and/or hardware operations. These computer programinstructions may be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, a special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means and/or circuits for implementingthe functions specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerusable or computer-readable memory that may direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer usable orcomputer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions that implement the function specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions that execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary tag cloud 10 that is a visualrepresentation of an inventory of content tag words. Tag clouds areutilized by users engaged in social tagging. For example, a user selectsone or more words from a tag cloud for tags the user wishes to associatewith certain content. In the illustrated tag cloud 10, more frequentlyused tag words in the inventory are depicted in a larger font or areotherwise emphasized, while the displayed order is generallyalphabetical. Thus, the illustrated tag cloud 10 facilitates finding andselecting tag words both alphabetically and by popularity. However,embodiments of the present invention may utilize tag clouds havingvarious configurations. Embodiments of the present invention are notlimited to the illustrated tag cloud configuration.

FIG. 2 illustrates the distribution of content tag words in an inventoryof tag words according to popularity, and is referred to as a “longtail” curve 20. The long tail curve 20 graphically illustrates that afew words in the tag cloud 10 are popular content tag words (i.e., asmall percentage of content tag words make up a large percentage ofuse), and that the majority of the content tag words in the tag cloud 10are spread out (i.e., utilization of these words drops). The illustratedlong tail curve 20 has three delineated areas: the head 22, the body 24,and the long tail 26. The head 22 represents the most popular (e.g.,about the top 2-5%) words in the inventory. The body 24 represents thenext most popular (e.g., about the top 10-20%) words in the inventory.The long tail 26 contains the remaining (e.g., about 80-85%) words inthe inventory.

Referring to FIGS. 3-9, methods, systems and computer program productsfor displaying tag words for selection by users engaged in socialtagging of content, according to embodiments of the present invention,are illustrated. For example, a user engaged in social tagging searchesfor and/or accesses, via a client device 30, content at one or morecontent sources 40 connected to a communications network 50. A contentsource 40 may be any source of content that can be accessed by a usere.g., web pages, databases, archives, etc. Content at a content source40 may include any type of content e.g., text, images, applications,video, and audio content, etc.

The communications network 50 may represent a global network, such asthe Internet, or other publicly accessible network. The communicationsnetwork 50 may also, however, represent a wide area network, a localarea network, an Intranet, or other private network, which may notaccessible by the general public. Furthermore, the communicationsnetwork 50 may represent a combination of public and private networks ora virtual private network (VPN). The communications network 50 may alsocontain transmissions over-the-air or through a dedicated distributionnetwork. The communications network 50 may also be wireless or wireline,or may include wireless and wireline portions. Exemplary user clientdevices 30 are devices executing a browser application, such as apersonal computer, wireless communications device, and/or packet-basednetwork video device.

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) 100 displayed on auser client device 30, according to some embodiments of the presentinvention. The illustrated GUI 100 includes a tag cloud 110, a tag wordinventory curve 120 positioned adjacent to the tag cloud 110, and aslider control 130 operably associated with the tag cloud 110 and tagword inventory curve 120. As described above, the tag cloud 110 is avisual representation of an inventory of tag words 60 (FIG. 3). The tagword inventory curve 120 is a graphical representation of the tag wordsin the inventory by popularity. As described above with respect to FIG.2, the tag word inventory curve 120 includes a head portion 122, a bodyportion 124, and a long tail portion 126. The head portion 122represents an upper percentile of tag word popularity (i.e., tag wordswith the highest frequency of use), the body portion 124 represents anintermediate percentile of tag word popularity (i.e., tag words with alower frequency of use), and the long tail portion 126 represents alower percentile of tag word popularity (i.e., tag words with the lowestfrequency of use).

In the illustrated embodiment, the tag cloud 110 displays tag words fromthe inventory alphabetically. In addition, tag words with higherpopularity are displayed differently from tag words with lesserpopularity. For example, tag words that fall under the head 122 of thetag word inventory curve 120 are displayed in a larger font than tagwords that fall under the long tail 126 of the tag word inventory curve120. For example, the tag. word “wedding” is displayed in a larger fontthan the tag word “mountain.” This indicates that the tag word “wedding”is a more popular tag word than “mountain.”

A user engaged in social tagging utilizes the tag cloud 110 to selectwords for inclusion within tags associated with content. A tag wordselection field 140 is positioned adjacent to the tag cloud, asillustrated. The tag word selection field 140 displays one or more tagwords selected by a user from the displayed tag cloud 110 (FIG. 7). Theslider control 130 is movable within a range (i.e., between opposite endportions of the tag word inventory curve 120) and increases or decreasesthe number of tag words displayed.

For example, in FIG. 4, the slider control 130 is positioned at the farright of the tag word inventory curve and all of the tag words in theinventory are displayed as a result. In FIG. 5, the slider control hasbeen moved to the left and the number of displayed tag words has beendecreased. Only the tag words that correspond to the range that extendsbetween the far left of the tag word inventory curve and the location ofthe slider control 130 are displayed. In other words, tag words with apopularity that falls on the right hand side of the slider control 130are not displayed.

In FIG. 6 the slider control 130 has been moved further to the left andthe number of displayed tag words has been decreased, correspondingly.Only the tag words that correspond to the range that extends between thefar left of the tag word inventory curve and the location of the slidercontrol 130 are displayed. In other words, tag words with a popularitythat falls on the right hand side of the slider control 130 are notdisplayed. The displayed tag words in FIG. 6 are the ones most oftenused in social tagging by others (i.e., these tag words fall under thehead portion of the tag word inventory curve).

Embodiments of the present invention allow users to understand howincreasing or reducing the domain of tag words relative to a tag wordinventory curve 120 will impact tag words displayed within the tag cloud110. User movement of the slider control 130 allows a user to visualizetag words displayed within a tag cloud according to their frequency ofuse by others engaged in social tagging.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) 100′ displayed on auser client device 30, according to other embodiments of the presentinvention. The illustrated GUI 100′ includes a tag cloud 110, a tag wordinventory curve 120 positioned adjacent to the tag cloud 110, and a pairof slider controls 130 a, 130 b operably associated with the tag cloud110 and tag word inventory curve 120. The slider controls 130 a, 130 bare movable within a range (i.e., between opposite end portions of thetag word inventory curve 120). Only tag words that fall within the rangebetween the two slider controls 130 a, 130 b are displayed. In otherwords, tag words with a popularity that falls on the right hand side ofthe slider control 130 b are not displayed and tag words with apopularity that falls on the left hand side of the slider control 130 aare not displayed.

FIG. 9 illustrates a graphical user interface (GUI) 100″ displayed on auser client device 30, according to other embodiments of the presentinvention. The illustrated GUI 100″ includes a tag cloud 110, a tag wordinventory curve 120 positioned adjacent to the tag cloud 110, and aslider control 130 operably associated with the tag cloud 110 and tagword inventory curve 120. As described above, the displayed tag wordscorrespond to the range that extends between the far left of the tagword inventory curve 120 and the location of the slider control 130. Inthe illustrated embodiment, this range is highlighted by shading 150under the tag word inventory curve 120.

Software code for displaying the various GUI embodiments described abovemay reside and/or execute entirely on a server device connected to thecommunications network 50 (or as part of a network service available viathe communications network), entirely on a user device 30 (e.g., withina browser application, etc.), or partially on a network service (orpartially as part of a network service) and a user device 30.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the preferredembodiments without substantially departing from the principles of thepresent invention. All such variations and modifications are intended tobe included herein within the scope of the present invention, as setforth in the following claims.

1. A method of displaying tag words for selection by a user engaged in social tagging of content accessible via a communications network, comprising: displaying a tag cloud, wherein the tag cloud is a visual representation of an inventory of the tag words, wherein each of the tag words is a metadata keyword that can be selected and associated with the content by the user; displaying a long tail tag word inventory curve adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve is a graphical representation of the tag words in the inventory by popularity, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve comprises a head portion, a body portion, and a long tail portion, and wherein the head portion represents an upper percentile of tag word popularity, the body portion represents an intermediate percentile of tag word popularity, and the long tail portion represents a lower percentile of tag word popularity; and displaying a slider control adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the slider control changes a number of the tag words from the inventory displayed in the tag cloud.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the slider control is movable within a range, and wherein all of the tag words in the inventory are displayed in the tag cloud when the slider control is positioned at one end of the range.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a tag word selection field adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the tag word selection field displays tag words selected by the user from the tag cloud.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying an additional slider control adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the additional slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the additional slider control changes the number of the tag words displayed in the tag cloud.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the two slider controls define a range of popularity on the long tail tag word inventory curve, and wherein only the tag words in the defined range of popularity are displayed within the tag cloud.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein tag words with higher popularity are displayed differently from tag words with lesser popularity.
 7. A computer program product for displaying tag words for selection by a user engaged in social tagging of content accessible via a communications network, comprising: a tangible computer readable storage medium embodying a program executable with computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions comprise means for enabling a processor to perform operations comprising: displaying a tag cloud, wherein the tag cloud is a visual representation of an inventory of the tag words, wherein each of the tag words is a metadata keyword that can be selected and associated with the content by the user; displaying a long tail tag word inventory curve adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve is a graphical representation of the tag words in the inventory by popularity, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve comprises a head portion, a body portion, and a long tail portion, and wherein the head portion represents an upper percentile of tag word popularity, the body portion represents an intermediate percentile of tag word popularity, and the long tail portion represents a lower percentile of tag word popularity; and displaying a slider control adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the slider control changes a number of the tag words from the inventory displayed in the tag cloud.
 8. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise displaying an additional slider control adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the additional slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the additional slider control changes the number of the tag words displayed in the tag cloud.
 9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the two slider controls define a range of popularity on the long tail tag word inventory curve, and wherein only the tag words in the defined range of popularity are displayed within the tag cloud.
 10. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise displaying a tag word selection field adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the tag word selection field displays tag words selected by the user from the tag cloud.
 11. The computer program product of claim 7, wherein the operations further comprise displaying tag words with higher popularity differently from tag words with lesser popularity.
 12. A data processing system that displays tag words for selection by a user engaged in social tagging of content accessible via a communications network, comprising: a display; and a processor in communication with the display to display a graphical user interface within the display, the graphical user interface comprising: a tag cloud, wherein the tag cloud is a visual representation of an inventory of the tag words, wherein each tag word is a metadata keyword that can be selected and associated with the content by the user; a long tail tag word inventory curve adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve is a graphical representation of the tag words in the inventory by popularity, wherein the long tail tag word inventory curve comprises a head portion, a body portion, and a long tail portion, and wherein the head portion represents an upper percentile of tag word popularity, the body portion represents an intermediate percentile of tag word popularity, and the long tail portion represents a lower percentile of tag word popularity; and a slider control displayed adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the slider control changes a number of the tag words from the inventory displayed in the tag cloud.
 13. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the slider control is movable within a range, and wherein all of the tag words in the inventory are displayed in the tag cloud when the slider control is positioned at one end of the range.
 14. The data processing system of claim 12, further comprising a tag word selection field adjacent to the tag cloud, wherein the tag word selection field displays tag words selected by the user from the tag cloud.
 15. The data processing system of claim 12, wherein the graphical user interface comprises an additional slider control displayed adjacent to the long tail tag word inventory curve, wherein the additional slider control is operably associated with the tag cloud and with the long tail tag word inventory curve and is responsive to user movement, and wherein movement of the additional slider control changes the number of the tag words displayed in the tag cloud.
 16. The data processing system of claim 15, wherein the two slider controls define a range of popularity on the long tail tag word inventory curve, and wherein only the tag words in the defined range of popularity are displayed within the tag cloud. 